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Released on November 12, 2004, Aitraaz brought a daring twist to the romantic thriller genre under the direction of Abbas-Mustan. Based on a man falsely accused of sexual harassment by his influential female boss, the film received widespread acclaim for tackling bold themes and delivering powerful performances. As the movie clocks 20 years of its release today, here's a look back at Akshay's old interview in which he refuted rumours of feeling discomfort while working on bold scenes with Priyanka Chopra.
Read excerpts:
In Aitraaz you play a victim of sexual harassment?
Aitraaz is the boldest film I’ve ever done. It’s a very controversial subject. It shows the woman to be in the supreme position of authority. Whoever called women the weaker sex didn’t know what they were talking about. I’ve always believed women can do anything she wants—from making babies to building homes and aeroplanes. In Aitraaz there are two women, one who breaks the man, and the other who reconstructs his life. After the film’s premier Rakesh Roshan and Hrithik Roshan told me how much I’ve underplayed my role and how tough it is to carry off the role. It feels nice to get appreciation from inside the industry. I play a very average guy…no jumping off skyscrapers, no hanging out of aircrafts…And yet there’s a quiet dignity and heroism associated with my character. He doesn’t fight for applause. He fights for his convictions.
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A lot of your films have you two women fighting over you
That’s true. Somehow most of my big films are solo-hero starrers. I guess I’m lucky to have beautiful women fighting over me. Aitraaz is the hardest film of my career. The directors Abbas and Mustan gave me no dramatic scenes to perform. I’m a very normal 9-5 working –class guy who loves to do his work honestly and go back to his wife in the evening. Then one day his life goes out of control when he’s accused of rape. I portray the agony of a decent middle-class man as he’s put on the dock for a disgraceful crime.
The male as the target of sexual harassment is new to Hindi cinema?
Shouldn’t we be exploring new themes instead of doing the same things over and over again? Two years ago when I was in the US, the rape case involving basketball Kolbe Brian hit the headlines. A fan wanted to have sex with him. When he didn’t give in she accused him of rape. I was there in the country. I followed his humiliation. The idea stayed with me. Now when I didAitraaz I referred back to that case.
Would you say Aitraaz is your most sexually explicit film?
It’s the boldest film I’ve done. But there’s nothing sexually explicit about it. I earlier did Ajnabee with Abbas-Mustan which was about wife swapping. Now this is about the male’s sexual harassment. I can trust Abbas-Mustan to make sure the themes don’t get cheesy or sleazy. I love the strengths and weaknesses of my character in Aitraaz. He isn’t afraid to show his feelings. He doesn’t feel like a less of man just because he’s caught on the wrong foot. He doesn’t hesitate to seek his wife’s help to bail him out of a crisis. I think we can call him a new-age metro-sexual character. He’s as real as you and me. Never done that before.
Was it hard to take off your shirt and jump into bed ?
We don’t have any such scenes in the film. All said and done Aitraaz was a film targeted at women audiences first. I’d call it a social, not a sexual film. What’s the big deal about taking off my shirt? Nowadays actors take off their pants for no reason. I’m very happy with the way my career is going. I’m getting to play everything from a soldier to a cook to a sailor. I don’t mind going solo or being in multi-starrer as long as I’m challenged as an actor.
You and Priyanka are a very successful pair. Any awkwardness because of the rumours?
None at all. I’m not the least scared of being paired with her. We’re a successful pair and we’ll continue to do films together. If I’m out of Suneel Darshan’s Barsaat it’s not because of Priyanka but dates. 70 per cent of the film is over. If I was in Barsaat it’d still be in the pipeline.